(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydraulic lifting device which has a rapid mechanical lift which quickly raises the lifting arm/saddle of the unit to the chassis of a vehicle, prior to the use of the hydraulic lifting mechanism in lifting the vehicle off the ground.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
The prior art lifting devices, such as floor jacks or garage jacks utilize a handle tube which is inserted into a pump piston sleeve. The handle is then moved vertically up and down to drive the piston into pressuring the hydraulic fluid. Thereby the lifting arm moves up slowly with high hydraulic energy to lift the vehicle. Prior to this high pressure lifting of the vehicle, the lifting arm has to be positioned and contacted with the lifting point of the vehicle and this is also done by the vertical up and down operation of the handle. During this preset of the lifting arm, the same lifting arm moves slowly up and the handle has to be moved vertically up and down many times, depending on the normal height of the vehicle lifting point. This is a slow, inefficient and energy wasting process especially when the consumer is making emergency repairs on the road, or in a commercial garage setting. U.S. patent Ser. Nos. 09/146,432, 09/766,620, etc of the present invention disclose prior ideas on improving this preset of the lifting arm into position. However these ideas have a more complicated mechanism and hydraulic system to quickly move the lifting arm into preset position, and therefore the structure is complicated, costly and needs precision manufacturing controls.
The primary object of the present invention, is to provide a lifting device with a quicker preset mechanism, to get the lifting arm in correct position in a more efficient manner. This is accomplished utilizing a linkage attached to the saddle support arm and to a swiveling pedal attached to a lower position on the lifting arm. By the pressure on the pedal, the shaft that is attached to the lower position of the linkage is rotated thus moving the lifting arm up quickly into preset position required.
Another object of the present invention in providing a lifting device with a quicker preset mechanism that gets the lifting arm in correct in correct position in a more efficient manner is accomplished by attaching a clevis type lifting handle which is attached to the same mechanism in line with the foot pedal. This gives the consumer the choice of moving the lifting arm quickly into position by either the side foot pedal or the lifting handle.
A further object of the present invention in providing a lifting device with a quicker preset mechanism that moves the lifting arm into correct position in a more efficient manner is accomplished by extending the rotating shaft outboard of the side plate and incorporating a locating hole positioned trans-axially.
An auxiliary rod or handle is inserted into this hole and by a downward movement of the handle the rotating shaft is rotated as needed to quickly move the lifting arm into correct position.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a lifting device with a quicker preset mechanism that moves the lifting arm into correct position in a more efficient manner, is accomplished by a combination of the foot pedal and lifting arm above, wherein both the foot pedal and the lifting handle can be folding when not in use thus creating smaller unit dimensions for storage and shipping.